Weleda Gardens Open Day

Earlier this month we visited the fabulous Weleda gardens on their open day, if you haven't heard of Weleda before they are a world leader in holistic natural cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

With gardens all over the world it feels like such a privilege to have one so close to us, I have visited the gardens before for one of Weleda's insight days but wanted to take the children so they could experience the gardens and see the wonderful flowers and plants.

First off my daughter and I made flower crowns, I had never made them before but it was super easy and so much fun. We chose our flowers from the selection they had and then carefully wound each flower onto the wire.

After we'd made our flower crowns we walked around the gardens, the plants were all labelled so you could tell what they were, some more deadly than others.

It was such a wonderful day and I enjoyed watching my children walk through the flowers, looking at the wildlife. We spotted some ant hills in the polytunnels and saw the bees that live in the gardens, we couldn't help but stop to spot the many butterflies and moths in the wildflower meadow too.

I use Weleda on a daily basis, my favourite products being their foot balm, arnica shower gel and skin food they smell great and work so well.

If you haven't heard of them before and are looking for more natural products to use as part of your beautify routine then do check them out.

Pretty Alpines for Your Home & Garden

After repotting some plants, I had some old pots left over that needed some love, so when I spotted a pretty alpine plant at the garden centre I decided to use that to pop in one of the more rustic looking ones.

These hardy plants need very little attention and can survive the harshest of conditions, you can even plant them in rockeries and boarders for pretty shapes and colours.  All you need is some compost or soil from your garden, your plant, a plant pot and a garden trowel.

I loved the shapes of the leaves and the clusters of smaller looking plants on this alpine, there is also a subtle red colour to the tips which makes it look really pretty.

Once you are ready to pot the plant, place some soil/compost into the bottom of the plant pot, you want it so that the plant sits at the right height in the pot, so once you are happy, remove the plant from the plastic pot and give it a try. You might need to add a bit more soil or take some out depending on where it is sitting in the pot, you want it to be sat with the start of the plant in line with the rim. 

Add more soil/compost to fill the pot, pressing down gently under the plant until the plant pot is full and there you have it, one beautiful plant for your garden and definitely on a budget. This only cost me the price of the plant as I had some left over compost from last year.

Finding old pots and cheap alpines is a great way to bring colour and shape into your garden, what do you like to grow in your garden?

Sunday Park Fun

Yesterday we had a party and with the rain we didn't really get chance to get outside much, so we decided to head to the park this morning.

It was really warm and we didn't have to go far to feel like we were somewhere tropical, I have posted about the tropical house at our local park before but today we all got to visit and my son and husband had a run and my and my daughter did some scooting.

This park was the one my son had his accident at a few months back and it's the first time i've been back, was quite emotional!

The flowers and plants are simply gorgeous in the house...

We liked looking at the different leaves and these fig ones looked like dinosaur footprints...

Smelling the pretty flowers and looking at the bananas...

The gorgeous tropical plants and fruit looked beautiful covered in water droplets...

More looking at the tropical flowers and the koi carp in the pond...

It was a wonderful few hours spent looking round here and then walking to the park to play and just what we needed to blow away the cobwebs, although it was very warm!

Linking up to Country Kids on Coombe Mill

Weleda Insight Day

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited to one of the Weleda Insight Days up at their UK head office in Ilkeston. Having worked just up the road for the last 9 years I felt terrible that I didn't know they were there.

Weleda is a brand that most of us will have come into contact with at some point in our lives, my memory is always of their Calendolon Ointment (now Calendula Skin Salve) that my mum called magic cream, it was her go-to antiseptic cream for bumps and scrapes.

On arrival at Weleda, we were taken into a lovely open space with tea, coffee and drinks whilst we chatted and waited for the day to start. An introduction to Weleda and how the business started was the first of many 'i never knew thats' from me. Rudolph Stiener, who I knew of from the Stiener schools, was the person that helped start Weleda.

Off to the gardens, again I never knew this is where they were, having driven past them several times.  We were greeted by Michael Bates who was a gardener at Weleda for 30 years before retiring, his wealth of knowledge on the plants, how they work and the whole Weleda philosophy knew no bounds.

I think we all stood in awe at the information being presented to us, I know I have much more of an appreciation for plants now than I had before. Have you ever taken the time to look at the leaves on a plant? How they change as you move from the roots to the flower, if you hold up a St Johns Wort leaf to the light it has tiny holes in it. Amazing stuff!

There were so many wonderful flowers in the garden, including the beautiful Chamomile flower, the properties of this useful flower know no bounds. I promptly had a cup of chamomile tea when we got back after hearing of its medicinal properties. On the flip side, we also saw poison ivy and a few other not so pleasant plants.

And finally onto the flower I know best, in relation to Weleda anyway, the beautiful calendula flower (part of the marigold family). The plot with them on was vibrant orange and beautifully swaying in the breeze.

Afterwards we got to see a demo with one of the other gardeners, she showed us how they take the plants and turn them into a tincture. I got to be one of the helpers and was pretty proud of my chopping.

After lunch, which was not only beautiful but from my the deli local to my work, it was divine and a lovely break in the day.

In the afternoon, we got to test lots of Weleda products, trying them out and learning about the lead plants (the one which is is the main ingredient). My favourite has to be the Sea Buckthorn. I am really excited to have found this, in fact I am hoping the Sea Buckthorn Juice might help with my Fibromyalgia and the tiredness.

All of the different smells were amazing, I am really looking forward to using the citrus hand and nail cream which we were lucky enough to get a sample of, a review will be up later of this great product and some others too.

Overall what I learned about this company and what they do has made me all the more determined to get me and my family using more if not all natural products.

NB. I was invited to the Weleda Insight Day and received a bag of goodies, however no payment has been received for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Life's Little Pleasures

Whilst out in the garden showing my son the flowers I spotted this, whilst I don't normally look at smelly rotting apples this one made me stop and smile.

I love how this rotting old apple from last year is sprouting a new apple tree, if I had planted some apple seeds I bet I couldn't have got this!

And then there is this, I was going through some china I had bought and it included this gorgeous tulip shaped cup and saucer.

It is so delicate and I wonder about the person who designed it, crafted it and thought about the ladies that would use them.

Sometimes it is the little things in life that make you smile that warm the cockles of your heart.